Door opening and closing device.



F. W. HARRIS.

DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING DEVICE.

APPLICATION min APH. l0. 19H5.

1 ,2 1 3,867 Putenmd Jun. so, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET lA WITNESSES 94g, INVEN'IOR @fw-Nm W @y F. W. HARRIS.

DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING DEVICE` APPLICATION msn ,uwv lo. me.

1,21 3,867. Patented Jun. 30, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WI'INESSES INVEN'IOR FREDERICK WILLIAM HARRIS, 0

TATE, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA.

DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING DEVICE.

Application led April 10, 1916.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK WILLIAM HARRIS, of the village of Tate, in the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Opening and Closing Devices, of which the following is the specification.

The invention relates to improvement in door opening and closing devices, particularly as directed to garages, stables and such like, and the object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive, easily installed 'and efficient device which will automatically effect the opening of the doors of the' garage or stable upon the approach of a vehicle, such as an automobile, buggy or wagon, and by so opening will allow the driver to enter the doorway without having to get out of the vehicle, and after having entered the garage or stable willA operate to automatically close the doors.

With the above principal and other minor objects in view which will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists essentially in the arrange merit and construction of partshereinafter more particularly described and later pointed out in the appended claims, reference beirig had to the accompanying drawings in which;

Figure 1 represents an exterior end view of a gai-ag? showing the doors and approach thereto. ig. 2 is an interior viewlooking forwardly toward the doors with the garage e walls and floor in section. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the operating parts of the invention with the Hoor of the garage entirely removed. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailed vertical sectional view longitudinally through the approach to the garage,'the section being taken in the llolfaiie denoted by the line X-X Fig. 2. ig. 5 is an enlarged de tailed' plan view of one of the winding drums. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detailed plan viewy of the coiled spring on theJ operating shaft, showing the manner in which it is fastened. l

'In the drawings likecharacters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each In the following lspecific'ation' ''I have shownv the walls, oor and approach' to the garage as of cement construction. It will Specification of Letters Patent.

be understood, however, that inso far as' the construction of these parts is concerned they can be made from any material, it being Patented J an. 30, 1917.

Serial No. 90,145.

only necessary to arrange and locate certain parts such that they will support and receive operating parts later described.

Referring now to the drawings, l represents a garage of which 2 and 3 are the side walls, l the floor and 5 the front end, in which end is located the usual doorway opening 6 to admit of the entrance of a vehicle, such as an automobile, to the garage.

At the approach or entrance end to the garage I form a pit 7 which is provided at the sides and in front of the garage with two upright retaining guard walls 8 and 9. The rear end of this pit terminates in an upright cross wall l() which is located beneath the Hoor and somewhat to the rear of the doorway opening.

11 and 1Q are sliding doors carried by hangers 13 fitted with rollers 14, the rollers operating on a track 15 secured by brackets 16 to the front side of the end wall 5. These doors, when closed together, close the doorway opening 6. The lower ends of the doors are retained against displacement outwardly by a retaining Z-bar 17 secured to the sill of the doorway opening. This Z-bar, of course, is arranged to allow the doors to slide freely.

18 is an approach or platform located between the retaining walls and having the forward end thereof pivotally mounted as shown at 19. The rear end of the approach terminates adjacent the doors and is Ii'ormally elevated above the front end, being held in such elevated position by parts later described.

20 and 21 are similar runways located within the garage and having their rear or inner ends pivotally supported as indicated at 22l to the beam 10 and their front ends terminating adjacent the inner side of the doors. These runways are parallel and pass in a direction lengthwise o the garage and are spaced apart a distance such that the wheels of an automobile or vehicle can be driven onto bothof them. In other words, the distance between their centers is equal to the average gageof 'vehicle or automobile wheels. A

4Immediately beneath the forward end s of the runways and passing across the pit I locate an operating cross shaft 23 which has the ends thereof ,suitably mounted iii the sides of the pit. This shaft is fitted, in a location directly beneath the runways, with a pair of pinions Q4:- and 25 whichl rotate with ifi the shaft and are designed to mesh continuously with racks 26 having their up i er ends permanently secured to the forward ends of the runways. The lower ends of the racks are suitably braced by angularly disposed brace bars 27 passing rearwardly to the undersides of the runways.

28 and 29 are vertically disposed spiral or coiled springs having their lower ends mounted in pockets 30 and 31- formed as extensions of the pit an'd their upper ends seated in sockets 32 and 33 located at the lower ends of the racks. These springs are strong or heavy and they normally retain the runways in the position shown best in "F ig. 4 of the drawings. 34 and 35 are links having their upper ends pivotally secured to the underside of the rear end of the platform 18 and their lower ends pivotally secured to the lower ends of the racks. These links are arched or bent to pass into the pit and they form a support for the inner ends of the platform as well as an actuating medium between the platform and the racks.

36 is a horizontally disposed coiled spring mounted on the shaft 23 and between a pair of bearings 37 and 38 extending downwardly from the floor 4. One end of this spring is attached securely to the bearing 37 while the other end is fastened permanently to the shaft. The arrangement is such that the spring resists the turning of the shaft when the same is rotated in a direction to draw down the racks, with the result that after the racks have been drawn down the said spring assists in rotating the shaft back to its initial position.

39 and 40 are winding drums permanently secured to the ends of the vlcross shaft 23 and carrying cables 41 and 42, which are fastened centrally, such as by staples indicated at 43, to the drums, are wound a few turns around the drums and have their ends extending upwardly. The ends of the cable 41 pass over guide rollers 44 and 45 located on the inner side of the front end 5 of the garage and have their extremities secured one to a bracket 46 provided on the upper inner corner of the door 11 and the other to a bracket 47 secured to the upper inner corner of the door 12. The ends of the cable 42 pass over guide rollers 48 and 49 located on the inner face of the end 5 of the garage and have their extremities fastened one to the bracket 46 and the other to the bracket 47. The end of the cable 42 attached to the bracket 46 is ada ted to pull the door 11 open when the end o the cable 41 attached to that bracket is slackening, and the end of the cable 42 attached t0 the bracket 47 is adapted to slacken when the end of the cable 41 attached to that bracket is pulling.

In order to better understand the inven tion I will now describe the manner in which .z it operates, assuming that an automobile or platform. As it goes down the links 34 ,f

shove the racks down against the springs 28 and 29 and the racks, as they go down, draw the runways with them. In their lowermost positions the platform and runways are designed to be level with the licor of the garage and their lowermost position is limited by the amount the springs compress. As the racks go down they eifect, through the pinions, a rotation in the shaft 23 which causes the drums to turn. The drums in turning draw the doors open. After the doors have opened the automobile is free to enter the garage. In passing into the garage through the doorway opening the wheels of the automobile do not clear or pass off the runways until the automobile is entirely housed within the gara e. Accordingly, the doors cannot close until the hind wheels of the car have cleared the runways, as it will be obvious that neither the platform nor the runways can rise until the weight of the car is removed from them. The instant, however, the rear wheels of the automobile have passed ofi' the inner ends of the runways the said runways are free to rise under the action of the springs 28, 29 and 36. In rising they carry the racks with them and effect the rotation of the shaft in the opposite direction to that heretofore stated, with the result that the drums operate, through the cables, to draw the doors closed. A car within the garage can be backed out of the garage without having to manually open the doors, as it will be obvious that as the hind wheels ride up the runways the runways will be depressed and will effect the movement of the racks in a manner such that the cables will be actuated to draw the doors open. After the car passes out the doorway and is clear of the approach the springs operate to close the doors.

What I claim as my invention is 1. The combination with a building provided with a doorway opening and normally shut sliding doors closing the opening, of a depressible approach located in advance of the doors, depressible runways within the building to the rear of the doors, a rack extending downwardly from each runway, a connection between the racks and the approach, spring means normally retainin the a preach and runways in their elevated positions, a rotatably mounted cross shaft disposed adjacent the racks, pinions fixed to' the shaft and meshing with the racks and winding cables attached to the shaft and to the doors and `arranged to efect the o ening of the doors in the depression of t e appreach or runways.

2; The combination with a building pro# vided with a doorway opening and normally shut sliding doors closing the opening, of a depressible approach located in advance of the doors, depressiblo runways within thc building to the rear of the doors, a rack extending downwardly from each runway, a link connecting the lower end of cach rack pivotally with the underside of the approach, suitably mounted springs engaging with the lower ends of the racks Iand normally retaining the runways and approach in their elevated positions, a suitably mount` ed cross shaft located adjacent the racks, pinions secured to the cross shaft and meshL ing with the racks, winding drurns on the shaft `and suitably guided winding cables connecting the drums with the doors and designed in the Winding of the cables to open the doors.

3. The combination with a building provided With a doorway opening and normally shut sliding doors closing the opening, of an approach located in advance of the doors and having the forward end thereof pivotally mounted, runways located within the building and to the rear of the doors and having their real-most ends pivotally mounted, a downwardly extending rack secured to each of the runways, links pivotally connecting the racks with the approach, spring means normally engaging with the racks and effecting the retaining of the free ends of the approach and runways normally in an elevated position, a suitably mounted cross shaft adjacent the racks, a pinion secured to the cross shaft and meshing with the racks, winding drums on the cross shaft and suitably guided cables connecting the drums with the doors and arranged in thc depression of the approach or runways to open the doors.

Signed at Winnipeg, this 18th day of March 1916.

FREDERICK WILLIAM HARRIS.

In the presence of- GERALD S. RoxBURcH, S. SILvnR'r.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for iive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

